Glutamine

Do you crave sugar? How can you reduce your cravings for sugar and alcohol? The supplement glutamine (L-glutamine) is known to help reduce these cravings. I discuss sugar cravings. Glutamine also has benefits for muscle size.

Sugar cravings

I referenced the book "Living Low Carb" by Johnny Bowden, PhD. On page 307, we learn "glutamine is your secret weapon against carbohydrate cravings" and that glutamine "has a remarkable ability to curb the urge for something sweet."

Also:Glutamine is known as L-glutamine and it is commonly used as a bodybuilding supplement. Health food stores will carry glutamine.

As noted in Living Low Carb, glutamine can be taken in capsules or powders. In my experience, powders are more convenient because the powder dissolves well and does not taste terrible.

Dosage. Typically, the supplement package provides a suggested dosage. You can often take a teaspoon and simply mix a spoonful with some water and drink that. This is done either on a daily basis or when you have a sugar craving.

Bodybuilding

I use sports supplements. Physicians have found that these supplements are useful in helping patients in critical care. One supplement, glutamine, is used by bodybuilders in gaining muscle mass. Does glutamine increase muscle mass?

Note:Glutamine is helpful to bodybuilders. But it is unclear whether a supplement is necessary.

An unusual study. Some researchers in China injected glutamine and carbohydrates into duck eggs. The pectoralis muscle mass of the ducks that were injected with glutamine was much larger than in the other ducks.

The results of the present study suggest that in ovo injection of glutamine and carbohydrates improves small intestine development and pectoralis mass, which is probably due to sparing of breast muscle protein.

Increase muscle mass. It is likely that glutamine plays some role in increasing muscle mass. This possibly carries over to humans as well.In humans,as in ducks,muscle is muscle.

Solid conclusions? We can't make any solid conclusions from the study I referenced above. However, glutamine could help people who want to gain muscle weight, such as bodybuilders, weightlifters and football players.

And:It seems like it would be a good supplement to use intermittently—with some caution, with reservation.

Muscle

In the research, glutamine supplementation was shown to help pectoralis muscle growth. But a complete training program and nutritional strategy in addition to glutamine would be more effective.

As a bodybuilder, I should have focused on the whey protein and my diet. The glutamine was not helpful for me at that early stage. I was not an elite athlete. I was a beginner. Years later, I caution against over-supplementation.

Summary

Glutamine is a useful supplement for people who are trying to reduce their sugar intake.By using glutamine supplements,you can reduce your sugaror alcohol cravings. There is also evidence that glutamine will help you gain muscle mass.